Page 25 of Leashed

Maybe she wasn’t ready to leave Nixon. After all, if her body was panicking at the thought of walking away from him, it must know something her heart didn’t.

*

Bo rolled overin the darkness, groaning when something round and hard dug into his spine. Pushing himself to his feet, he shook the fallen pine needles from his hair and looked around the familiar park terrain.

Every muscle in his body ached, carrying the memory of the miles he’d run, far past the boundary of the park and through the rugged mountain passes beyond until his mind was numb. The palms of his hands and soles of his feet were marred with cuts and bruises, carried over from the damage he’d done to his paws in hound form. Scanning the secluded grove, he spotted his clothes and limped over to them, his body aching as he dressed.

Easing his phone from his pocket as he began the long trek to the park’s entrance, he watched as notifications sped across the screen.

Ryan.

Alex.

Ryan again.

And again.

He blinked a few times and checked the time.

And then the date.

“Holy fuck,” he groaned, leaning against the rough bark of a tree.

Monday.

Memories of picking Sage up on Friday morning barreled to the forefront of his mind and he closed his eyes in defeat.

He’d spent three nights running from everything and everyone, escaping none of it.

Sunshine.

The response his body had to her cheeky comment had been instantaneous, driving his failed attempts to elicit another snarky response from her. He’d toed the line of propriety in the hopes she’d come at him again, that he could rile her up enough for her to break past her meekness and bite back.

Even now, with the early morning sun filtering through the thick forest and across the frosted ground, the thought of her “Sunshine” remark was affecting him.

And not in a friendly way.

Hunching forward enough for his shirt to cover his growing issue, he continued his trek to his truck, mulling over his options.

If running wasn’t going to quiet the restlessness inside him, he needed to up the stakes and dive head-on into something with a little more risk.

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